Back in the Day – Part IX

by Shipra Castledine

I was in boarding school at Loreto Convent, Darjeeling to 1966. At the end of the school year I was taken out and my mother and I moved to Kolkata and I was admitted to Loreto House. My parents made this decision as they wanted me to be with them and not go through my schooling and further education from boarding facilities. We initially moved in with my Sejokaku, Sejokaki and two cousins. I found a girl across the road who was at Loreto House so I started going with her to school and she became my best friend. We were quite inseparable and our families became really close. She lived in this huge house in a joint family. They were from a small princedom, what we called a zamindari family. Her extended family and friends became mine too and vice versa. My Dad would visit us as often as he could. Sometimes he would come on an official trip and go visit the Duncan Brothers head office in Dalhousie, Kolkata.

Kolkata General Post Office, Dalhousie Square. PC  http://double-dolphin.blogspot.com/search/label/%23DalhousiePhotoWalk

It was good to live with relatives. There was a lot of shared responsibilities amongst the adults and also a fair amount of sibling and cousin rivalry! After some time my parents felt it best to live independently. At this time we rented a small flat in Kolkata, near my Chotokaku (father’s younger brother) and Dad carried on in Baintgoorie TE. The change from a manager’s burra bungalow to a flat in South Kolkata that had Indian style toilets was quite radical! But my parents made nothing of it so I didn’t feel that there was anything to whinge about! Mum and I managed. The quality of part time domestic help was excellent in the South Kolkata localities. We had part time cooks who would, with practiced ease, produce yummy Bengali food! Quite a change from what we ate in Baintgoorie. As we were always foodies intrinsically, we appreciated the shuktos, charcharis, maacher jhols and other delicacies with as much enjoyment as we had the roasts and stews and other Western food we would have along with the curries and Indian food in tea. Life was affordable in those days in Kolkata. We could afford to eat good prawns, excellent quality river fish, mutton and chicken and wonderful vegetables galore.

Dad continued being Manager at Baintgoorie TE. He would visit Kolkata frequently and we would go out on the town. He was so good with children, in fact all of my mum and dad’s family members would do anything for us children. Anything that I have sight seen or experienced has been because of my Dad. And he would always make it exciting with street food and enjoyment. Later on he did the same for his grandchildren. And mum would join in everything. She always kept the home steady and comfortable and running smoothly, something I learned from her to practice in later years. No matter what turmoil I was facing I would ensure my home was running smoothly for members of my family so that there was some balance in our lives.

He was learning words and one of them was ‘ass’. So he was reading out ‘A – S – S – ass maane gaadha!

In that little, ordinary flat we became friendly with all our neighbours. And of course my Chotokaku and Chotokaki and their three little girls would be around all the time. The landlord lived upstairs. He had three children. The practice of Bengali children in families like theirs was to do their studies aloud. One evening when Dad was visiting we were hanging around in our drawing room and we could clearly hear the boy upstairs, around 11-12 years old, loudly studying English. He was learning words and one of them was ‘ass’. So he was reading out ‘A – S – S – ass maane gaadha (meaning ass in Bengali) and Dad says ‘gaadha maane aami (ass meaning me)” and we cracked up!!

My transition to a day school from boarding was quite big. But once again, as my parents made no fuss and treated everything as normal, I made the change reasonably easily. However I was an A grade student in Loreto Convent, Darjeeling but got a shock in my first examinations in Loreto House, Kolkata when I dropped to below the middle of the class in ranking! The competition was much more fierce in the city! And that became the story of my academics from there on! I did improve but never to get to the top of the class!

Soon after I started attending Loreto House we celebrated an event that had students representing as many Loreto branches throughout India. I was selected to represent Loreto Convent, Darjeeling as I had all the uniforms. So there I was in the smart winter uniform of warm long sleeve blouse, warm cotswool, pleated grey skirt, red and white striped tie, a smart matching grey blazer, grey warm stockings and black buckle shoes. When I arrived in school dressed in the uniform all the city Loreto girls crowded around me and oohed and aahed over such a beautiful, smart uniform! I can still remember that. And they commented on my pink face as I had the rosy cheeks from the cold climes of Darjeeling which I lost over the next few weeks of living in Kolkata.

When we were still living with my Sejokaku’s family and I had got very close to my best friend and her brothers we decided to all visit Baintgoorie for our school holidays. As we started arranging the holiday more young people got added on and ultimately it became my friend and her two younger brothers, my two cousins who I was living with and another cousin brother on my mother’s side. My mum was the chaperone for all of us children aged between 8 and 13. There was much hilarity and joyfulness on the flight from Dum Dum Airport to Bagdogra Airport. My Dad was there to meet us with 3 cars / jeeps and we made the journey to Baintgoorie TE. The young people were keenly looking around at a very different landscape to the city.

With four boys in the mix there was never total peace and tranquillity!

The drive straight away took us past tea gardens to the left of Bagdogra Airport. Then came the drive down Sevoke Road past Bagdogra township, so simple in its one street with shops on either side. Past North Bengal University on the left and on down to Siliguri. We did not get into Siliguri town but drove down the bypass, past a well known Buddhist monastery at Salugara township where the Dalai Lama visited frequently and was known to have been visited by celebrities such as Richard Gere and Steve Siegal. Then on to Sevoke where there is a big army cantonment. By this time the children were all quiet and taking in the beautiful surroundings. I still get homesick remembering that drive through forest on either side of the road, army quarters nestled between then the turn on to the range of hills with the Teesta River below that would take you either to the Dooars or up to Kalimpong or Sikkim. The drive to Baintgoorie TE took approximately 2 hrs. All the way we breathed clean, clear air, saw nothing but greenery, rice paddy fields, little towns like Oodlabari and the tea estates which were on either side of the road once we were past the hill range.

With four boys in the mix there was never total peace and tranquillity so inspite of their interest in the landscape there was still leg pulling and giddyacks happening in the cars! Anyway we finally got to Baintgoorie TE. The drive through the gates of the burra bungalow which were drawn open by two maalis was enough to impress the whole lot of us in the cars. Up a gravel driveway to this fabulous massive bungalow. As we all tumbled out of the vehicles Dad allocated our rooms to us. 3 of the older boys were assigned to a very large bedroom downstairs. Dad had put together 3 large single beds, more than enough room for all of them. The guest bedroom was given to my Sejokaku’s children and my bestie and I were given my bedroom. Thus started the most memorable, enjoyable holiday for all of us children.

We had a puppy at the time. His name was Chicko. That little puppy gave the boys a real run for their money as he would tear around the substantial gardens and through the bungalow, upstairs and downstairs with the boys racing after him! Taking tumbles, leaping over things and generally providing much entertainment for everyone else! Mum laid on meals by the gallons, delicious, comforting food that no-one fussed about. The physical activity, the unpolluted environment and the bountiful joyousness had appetites at their best and moreover mum was a good disciplinarian. She would be empathetic to a child’s complaints but firm and fair in her dealing of it. As a result though there were incidents of rivalry and taunting between the many children that we were, on the whole the holiday of two weeks went pretty smoothly. Many outings were had. Picnics, trips to the game forests, into Siliguri for a meal at a restaurant and of course the club days at Western Dooars Club.

 

MEET THE WRITER:

'My name is Shipra Castledine nee Shipra Bose (Bunty). My parents were Sudhin and Gouri Bose. I am a tea 'baba' of the 1950-s era. I spent a part of my life growing up in the Dooars and another large part of my life married to a tea planter's son the Late KK Roy son of PK and Geeta Roy of Rungamuttee TE in the Dooars. I continued to be in the tea industry for many years as KK was a tea broker till he passed away in 1998.' Read all Shipra's posts here :https://teastorytellers.blogspot.com/search/label/Shipra%20Castledine. 

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